Boy, 11, Describes Sex Acts With Teacher

Over 300 Pages Of Testimony Made Public

It started with the 11-year-old boy and his former music teacher slow dancing to Boyz II Men in her classroom at Rolling Green Elementary School in Boynton Beach, the young man told attorneys.

It graduated to kissing and gentle touches by teacher Carol Flannigan.

Finally, during a sleepover at her Boca Raton home, Flannigan took the boy's virginity while his siblings slumbered in another room, he said.

It was 1 a.m. and as the child lay on the floor of the bedroom Flannigan shared with her husband, the teacher emerged from the bathroom in a red nightgown. She then began caressing him and asking if he liked it, the boy recalled.

"I remember her whispering that she had a surprise for me and ... that's when we had sex," he said.

The boy, now 14, told his story during a sworn deposition earlier this year. The more than 300 pages of testimony were recently made public. Flannigan, 50, faces life in prison if convicted of capital sexual battery for allegedly carrying on a 19-month sexual relationship with the boy beginning in June 2002. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel does not identify alleged victims of sexual abuse.

Flannigan has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

In explicit detail, the boy described the genesis of his relationship with Flannigan, who mentored the musically gifted boy and his brothers, who had a singing group. Flannigan, he said, arranged for them to perform and drove them to appearances in her van. Eventually, the children began having regular sleepovers at Flannigan's home.

After the first encounter, the boy and Flannigan had sex during each sleepover, he said. But the interludes weren't limited to the home, according to the boy, with incidents of sexual contact also occurring at John Prince Park in Lantana, in a hotel room during a trip to Orlando and in her van as they sat in the Civil Air Patrol parking lot. They also kissed in her office and a storage room at the school, he said.

After the first encounter, the child said he considered calling his father, running away or telling his brothers, but eventually decided against it.

Flannigan's husband, Douglas DePue, caught the boy and Flannigan engaged in sex but never reacted to it, according to the child. Once, the boy said, DePue saw Flannigan on top of the boy but just walked past. Another time, according to the teen, DePue lay in the same bed as Flannigan and the boy had sex.

In August, DePue's insurance company, State Farm, settled a $1.5 million claim brought by the boy and his father. In the lawsuit, DePue was accused of negligence for failing to protect the child from Flannigan. DePue has denied knowing about the alleged relationship. He and Flannigan are in the midst of a divorce.

The boy was not the only member of the family privy to Flannigan's affections, according to the boy. He said that he once caught his brother kissing her and that he thought his father might also have been "interested" in Flannigan.

The child's father has admitted to also having a sexual relationship with Flannigan.

The boy said Flannigan told him she was "dating" at least three other men -- two fellow teachers and a lieutenant in the Civil Air Patrol -- at the time he was allegedly involved with her.

The boy admitted in his deposition that he twice lied to Department of Children & Families investigators about his relationship with Flannigan. Authorities were alerted after the boy's stepmother found text messages between the boy and Flannigan.

Police charged Flannigan in January 2004. She is on house arrest while awaiting trial, scheduled to begin in late November.

Missy Stoddard can be reached at mstoddard@sun-sentinel.com or 561-832-2895.